The oldest known map of a gold mine was drawn in the 19th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt (1292–11189 BC), whereas the first written reference to gold was recorded in the 12th Dynasty around 1900 BC. Egyptian hieroglyphs from as early as 2600 BC describe gold, which King Tushratta of the Mitanni claimed was “more plentiful than dirt” in Egypt. Egypt and especially Nubia had the resources to make them major gold-producing areas for much of history.
Augustus Caesar (63 BC–14 AD)
Not only was Augustus Caesar in charge of an empire that accounted for 25% to 30% of the world’s economic output, but according to Stanford history professor Ian Morris, Augustus at one point held personal wealth equivalent to one-fifth of his empire’s economy. That fortune would be the equivalent of about $4.6 trillion in 2014. “For a while,” Morris adds, Augustus “personally owned all of Egypt.” That’s hard to top.
Photo: Obverse of an Egyptian gold stater of Nectanebo II (360–342 BC) with hieroglyphs nfr-nb meaning “fine gold”. Now in the
Kestner Museum, Hannover.
On this day, 1 May 1974, hundreds of mostly East African Asian women workers at the Imperial Typewriters plant in Leicester, England began a three-month strike. Although unsuccessful, it was a key moment in galvanising Asian working class resistance in the UK. We tell the history of the Grunwick strike of mostly East African Asian women shortly after this in our podcast: http://bit.ly/2vuCeSWhttp://bit.ly/2ZNP5xt
